Breaking Barriers: Building Capacity to Provide Tractor Education

a. Performance target outcome data and discussion

Through structured follow-up interviews conducted via telephone and an online survey, the project team verified that 24 agricultural educators and service providers (18 who participated in the project  plus six additional educators recruited as partners by those project "graduates") delivered tractor and/or mechanization education to 463 beginning farmers and farm employees using resources from this project. The education was delivered via group sessions (typically full-day, hands-on workshops) and individual technical assistance, delivered via in-person consultations, phone calls and email correspondence.

Whether by phone interview or the online survey, participants responded to the same set of questions. Of the 31 individuals who completed this project's professional development offerings in 2014, 26 contributed to the final verification in July 2016. Of those, 19 participated in telephone interviews and seven opted to provide verification information via the online survey. Five did not respond to our requests for information. We did not contact individuals who did not fully complete the 2014 training.

Project staff entered the data from the interviews into the online survey instrument so that all the verification data was aggregated in one place. The interviews also provided opportunities to informally collect additional qualitative information about the participants' experiences delivering mechanization and tractor education, barriers and challenges they encountered, and their perspectives on how best to meet farmers' educational needs with regard to tractor, mechanization and other farm business development topics.

Of the 24 people who organized tractor/mechanization education, five reported providing both group education and individual consulting/coaching, 16 provided only group education, and three provided only individual consulting/coaching. One participant organized a train-the-trainer session to help 16 farm operators and managers gain knowledge and skills in teaching employees and apprentices about tractor and implement safety and operation.

Thirteen educators conducted follow-up evaluation surveys with farmer participants. Evaluation questions varied from workshop to workshop based on how the sponsoring organization conducts event and program evaluation. Combining data from the various evaluation instruments, 352 aspiring and beginning farmers and farm employees completed these surveys. Their responses show that the education improved knowledge, skills and confidence, and that these individuals are using what they learn on farms and to make decisions about mechanization. Data shared by project beneficiaries reported shows that:

•  All of the 352 beginning farmers and farm employees who completed surveys reported that participation improved their knowledge of mechanization and tractor safety operation and/or maintenance;
• 342 people reported improving tractor skills;
• 302 reported increases in confidence;
• 152 people reported using knowledge they gained to make decisions about mechanization; and,
• 130 reported implementing changes to farm operations and/or practices.

The most common themes in terms of on-farm changes were: implementing safety practices when driving tractors and attaching implements; improvements to daily/seasonal maintenance, safety when driving and attaching implements; and the factors that will be considered when selecting a tractor or other machinery to invest in.

• “This is so helpful! Everybody who’s taught me tractor stuff before just yelled, 'Do this! Do that!' But you’re making sure that I really understand what’s going on. I think I’ll be able to do this again by myself."

• “I learned a ton — basics and special tricks!”

• "I am going to ask my farm to put me on the team that works with tractors and to assign me the daily maintenance checks."
• "What I leaned today is absolutely necessary information for my farming success."

b. Beneficiary outcome stories

Following are anecdotes and observations provided by some project participants about the impact the project has had on their approach to tractor and mechanization education.

"It was an in-depth and very rewarding experience that has continued to improve both my confidence and my collaborations with other instructors and institutions," said one beneficiary who participated both to share her expertise (she is certified to teach the National Safe Tractor and Machinery Operation Program -- NSTMOP -- curriculum) and to continue to build her knowledge and skills."The first time we did a workshop, I mostly supported the other (male) instructor, chiming in on safety aspects while he reviewed all kinds of mechanics and technical information. [This fall] was the first time that I was in charge of talking and walking individual students through tractor start-up and operation. That had always been something I asked co-instructors to do. And I found that not only was it doable, but something I am really good at."

"Collaboration with [project staff] was especially helpful in holding workshops because with the registration, coffee/snacks, etc taken care of, I could focus on teaching the class."

"We were doing some [of this kind of education] before, but participating in the project] really stepped up our game," reported a representative of a New York nonprofit that offers a variety of education and training programs for beginning farmers. "Over the last two years we've done a much more comprehensive training for all our apprentices and incubator farmers. Everyone who is going to operate equipment participates in a half day of classroom training and a full day hands on workshop."

"Since 2014 we've done a substantial amount of tractor safety and risk management education [as part of our farmer training program]," explained a Vermont participant, who oversees a university-based residential farmer training program. Participation in this project helped to shape the way the program delivers equipment and machinery education for its farmer trainees, as well as routine safety, use and operation training for faculty and staff who use the farm's equipment. "We've become more systematized. We use the project materials and also developed new, customized materials about our equipment for all the people who work at the [university farm]," he explains. "We do a classroom based tractor safety training for all users, and have check-off based systems to individually train each person. For each tractor, we developed a one pager, and we use that to go over the machine and its quirks. We were audited yesterday by the university risk management people, and I think they liked what they saw."

"Many of the young farmers in our network don’t come from farm families or agricultural colleges, and mechanics and engine repair are frequent gaps in their knowledge. Many of the attendees to the workshop—who use machines with small engines on their farms or the farms they work on—didn't know about combustion engines, how to keep them in working order, and what can go wrong with them. Participants said in their evaluations that the class helped to demystify these machines, and were very appreciative particularly of the hands-on portion of the workshop. Many expressed that they were eager to get back to their work benches and barns to give their machines some work over the winter, and also that they would take better care of them in the coming growing season with hopes of extending the lives of their machines."

"All eight participant reported that this workshop had an impact on their knowledge of tractor basics, safety, operation, and maintenance. While not everyone agreed that their farm's profitability will increase as a result of this workshop, all 8 did comment that there are certain measures they will implement that will allow them to operate tractors more safely and to perform basic maintenance. One additional outcome stated in 5 of the evaluations is that there was knowledge gained on shop tools."

"All nine evaluations checked that this workshop improved their ability to operate a tractor, increased their knowledge of tractor safety, and increased their ability to maintain tractors. One participant noted that she has taken several tractor and farm equipment trainings in the past, some of which included hands-on components, but this training provided the most beneficial experience for hands-on learning. Two participants specifically mentioned they plan to do more of their own maintenance as a result of this workshop. Two participants specifically commented on how useful the information presented on purchasing a new or used tractor was to them. The entire group expressed that the resources provided during the workshop were of great value and that they would all recommend this workshop to other farmers."

Materials: